Monday, July 19, 2010

Petnome Project: Officially Released!

Two long months...and finally, here it is, folks:




While the project will never be entirely complete (updates and changes are to be expected regularly; errors in the database still to be sorted out; correspondence emails yet to be replied to by submitters; certain special Pets, such as the Sheep, are not numerous for enough discoveries for their Abilities), it will constantly be maintained by The Petnome Team.  We hope that our work serves your training and breeding endeavors well!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Petnome Project: Official Release Date

That's right, it's been a long two months, but now we're ready to roll out and show everyone exactly what the Project is all about!

The final deadline is Monday, July 19, midnight (Pacific Time)

It'll be an ongoing work-in-process, meaning you will see the Petnome Project come together as we slowly complete each puzzle.  But, you will be able to access the information in a neat and organized fashion, with smooth-scrolling sidebars, easy-to-use Navigation bar, and an endless number of paths to surf through (via links).

I'm very happy with the interface, as it doesn't take very long to load between pages (I barely noticed any seams), and satisfied with the fact that there won't be any ads.  

Can't wait to publish it! 

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Ravenwood Radio 20 2Nite!

I'll be there, opening the doors half an hour before show time as usual, collecting any questions you have for Leesha and Steve!

The show starts at 6:30 PT, 8:30 CT, 9:30 ET!

Listen here or here!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

BUN: Celestia "Prequests" and Game Updates on Live Realm

Now that the "Gone Fishing" sign is off the door, save for KI's response, it's time to share some thoughts and occurrences!  The past few days have been great enough to overshadow the few disappointments I had here and there regarding the game, such as Warehouse being stripped as a requirement for players to access Celestia and the second "Item Hurricane" within a  few weeks.



On Wednesday, my long-gone, pioneer best friend Missy, a.k.a. Scarlet Deathblood, whom I mentioned a long time ago and made a "tribute" video for, has finally returned.  We reunited in Unicorn Way, where she was given her return present of Swiftshadow Wings.  Over the weekend, I did my best to explain the new Pet System and expectations to have for the coming of Celestia.  We have been questing around together to help her towards her second Grandmaster (and my third), both of the same school!  I'll update you guys when we're finally in Dragonspyre, but just for kicks and giggles, here's an interesting fact:  my character has yet to finish the Lady Blackhope quest.  At level 34.

On the same day, I managed to finish my third Epic pet:  Duke Honey, the 2G (second generation) Magma Colossus.  Check out what he got after hitting the 1000 XP mark:


These are his parents:


And this is him, in his entirety:


The Defender Pig had a max Universal Resist of 10%.  This guy has 11%, plus 5% Power Pip boost.  Durable and Tenacious were both needed to achieve the new limit.

Speaking of pets, I would like everyone to please welcome both Kestrel Shadowthistle from the Shadowthistle School of Wizardry and Heather Emeraldflame of Heather Emeraldflame & Friends...to the Petnome Team!  Kestrel will be helping extensively with the internal stuff, like data and site management, while Heather will be out on the field, collecting resources that we do not have available (like pictures of pets, etc.).  A round of applause to Heather, who has been more than kind to raise around a hundred of her pets to Teen to add to the database!  So, yes, we now have two Heathers on the Petnome Team!

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On Thursday, Cassandra Hexthorn of A Life of Fire and Fallon Deathslinger helped me with collecting the rest of my ingredients for that mammoth Grizzleheim craft:  The Watchtower Hall.

The front page of the login screen revealed that Updates were coming that night...with the news that the Warehouse was not required to access Celestia.  A frown inducer for many of us (9 to 6 vote, in favor of keeping the instance as a requirement) across Twitter and Facebook, but there lies the limitation of communication for Menu Chatters, who deserve as much as we Closed and Open Chatters do when it comes to traveling to the new world.

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On the night of the update, Friday, I had a lingering thought about Earthquake's change to take off Spirit Armors created by Rebirth:  what about Steal Ward?  For those that don't know, Steal Ward does not work on Rebirth armor...I wonder if that will change sometime soon?

I noticed that Pet Abilities have also been updated.  Originally, we were planning to release the Petnome results around this weekend, but the game changes put that progression to a halt.  We are currently working on overcoming that issue, however :)

I emailed Professor Greyrose to see if it was possible for a changelog to go public or sent directly to us whenever Pet skills were changed...but her reply indicated that it was up to us...the Community and "loyal contributors"...to create a reliable fansite.  We'll need everyone's help more than ever!

Back into the game:  I lost Platae, my Tiger mount.  But the highlight of that night:  beating Warehouse with two Death and Ice:  Gabriel Heart (Ronan Dawn), Missy, and me.

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On Saturday, I finally got the recipe for the House after grinding in the Coven den.  Then came a major Warehouse marathon as I powerhoused through the instance with the entire cast of Wandcast (Dustin, David, and Kestrel), my "employer" Leesha Darkheart, both of my Petnome teammates with the first name "Heather," and Scarlet Moonflower, and many others (I'm sorry if I forgot!!) with my good friend of a friend, "Taryn."  No losses or defeats to report yet, but the runs were pretty formulaic, to be fair.

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On Sunday, I mated Duke Honey with his predecessor, Rusty.  That's right.  Cross-generational breeding.  I hope there are no negative repercussions to this ( >_< ).  My intent was to use a Stat-filled pet (Rusty) and combine that with a pet with desirable skills (Duke Honey, with his resist and power pip), to create a child with even more resist and power pip potential (Mister Ruby).  I ended up with a Magma Colossus 62 (the first Generation is 61), meaning Mister Ruby took on more Ultra-Rare or Epic abilities compared to his father-grandfather.  (Oh lord, I am shivering now).  And, he has an Epic talent that Rusty didn't have (meaning Spell-Proof, the resist, was inherited).  Now I am hoping that actually manifests!

In the same day, I received a really great gift from Alric Ravensinger from The Raven's Vault:

That's my trusty Ice Bird, Duke Piper, showing off his wings next to me.  Nice work and thank you, Alric!

On my unconventional leveling method, I learned that you can collect both "book quests" from Marleybone and Mooshu, and actually complete them at the same time (reading "Return of the Emperor" from the Jade Palace means you also read "Marleybonian Civil War"; reading "A New Beginning" also completes "The Golden Age").  I wonder if that'll be fixed soon...

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Then yesterday, not too much went on other than chatting with friends while I waited for my crafting slots to open for my new Watchtower Hall!


I loved the way the interface counted down while the ingredients were consumed!

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Here's another sneak peek at the Petnome results site  (click to enlarge; click on the picture in the new window again to enlarge further!):




See you guys in the Spiral!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

KI's Re: Items Lost After Updates and Maintenance

Check your emails for this message; please note that this letter was sent to those who sent in any claims on missing items:


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Dear Wizards &/or Parents,

As you know on 7/9, during the restart of the game after a short maintenance window, some items were lost that had been in use or equipped just prior to the shutdown. We sincerely apologize and we promise that all individual claims will be reviewed and addressed.

So that we can quickly get your account back to rights, we request your assistance. Please provide the following information (we know some of you already have, but the succinct reiteration will allow us to quickly target your account):

1. Account Username: (No passwords please!)
2. Character Name: (if you have more than one character with the same name, please add in the school/level)
3. Specific Item(s) Lost: (If you are missing a pet, please provide the talents/level)
4. Specific Item(s) Lost:
5. etc.

A few additional notes:
a. This ticket will NOT automatically close
b. Please respond only to this email for this topic. Opening new tickets will require more time by the support staff to link your tickets together (and thus slowing down our ability to get your items recovered). If you have questions unrelated to this issue, please just open a new ticket/email.

We anticipate the full recovery for all impacted players will take a few days. Your continued patience & understanding is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
KingsIsle Support